Underworld I: A Single Light
by terrymcgrion
Summary: Legolas and Aragorn, two long time friends, stumble across a mysterious town of men that has remained hidden for many years. The pair must find out the truth behind the strange things that are happening throughout the town. More easily said than done, the
1. Chapter 1

_Only recently have I thought of writing Lord of the Rings fanfiction. I have never written any fanfiction stories before._

_I got this inspiration for writing stories from a multitude of fanfiction story writers on this site. I have tried to put some of my favorite styles of humor in this fic._

_Since this is to be my first fanfiction ever, please bear with me through my clumsy elvish translations. I hope you enjoy it!_

* * *

-**A Single Light**-

**By:** terrymcgrion

**Rating:** PG-13, for some violence and swear words. Could be PG, but PG-13 just in case.

**Spoilers:** Not that I know of...

**Disclaimer:** All Tolkien characters and locations belong to him. All the other characters and settings were made up by me.

**Summary:** Legolas and Aragorn, two long time friends, stumble across a mysterious town of men that has remained hidden for many years. The pair must find out the truth behind the strange things that are happening throughout the town. More easily said than done, they find out, as the town grows increasingly hostile to the two travelers and their lives are not the only ones in danger.

**Note:** I am not an expert on Middle Earth, so there may be some mistakes. Please pardon them and ignore any grammar or spelling mistakes that I may make.

**Additional Disclaimers:** The format of this fanfiction somewhat resembles other authors' pages. I do not own this story's format.

* * *

-**A Single Light**-

**Chapter One**

The autumn sunlight shone on the bird, briefly illuminating the round, glistening eye of the robin. Tilting its head back, it trilled a note of greeting to the sun. A small movement, invisible to the inexperienced eye, unnerved the bird, making it flutter away in alarm.

A dark-haired young man, appearing to be around the age of twenty, came into view. Hearing the bird's call, he turned toward the sound and smiled.

"You seem distracted of late," a melodic voice commented.

Aragorn didn't even turn around. Who else could sneak up on him that easily?

"Mirkwood sunsets are truly amazing, aren't they?" Aragorn casually commented.

Legolas narrowed his eyes. The ranger winced slightly, knowing how Legolas reacted when he tried to hide things from the elf.

"First he will start peppering me with questions. After he pounds me flat with his interrogation, he then will corner me with my own words and pounce on me like a cat on a mouse. What in all of Arda did I do to deserve this?" Aragorn groaned silently.

"Well, the time when I dumped blueberry juice in Celeborn's hair was pretty bad, but otherwise I'm fine. Really!" Aragorn thought desperately, trying to make his thoughts reach Mandos himself, which to say, is rather difficult.

He saw Legolas step a couple of paces closer to him. The ranger suddenly felt very sorry for all those poor creatures that crossed the elven prince.

Well, maybe not the spiders.

Aragorn closed his eyes, waiting for the evitable. To his surprise, nothing happened. Cracking open one eye, he peered outward. Still nothing. The ranger risked it and opened both eyes. Silver-blue eyes stared determinedly back at him.

Aragorn wished that something would happen. Anything! Yes, even a whole horde of bloodthirsty orcs coming to attack them! Where were those evil creatures when you needed them?

Fat chance, though. Like anything could get past the elven patrols. He knew this because he had tried it before. The elves had spotted him miles away and were busy laughing themselves silly over his attempt before he had even come into earshot.

A bucket of ice cold water mixed with mud had quickly wiped the smirks off their faces. Their expressions were priceless although he was forced to hide in Legolas's wardrobe while vengeful mud-bath victims were still roaming about. The memory almost brought a smile to his lips.

Then he remembered who he was with.

"Something troubles you," Legolas's eyes probed into Aragorn's seeking an answer, "Would you mind telling me what it is?"

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed by intense emotional wounds that still were raw, Aragorn snapped out, "It's none of your business! Why do you worry over me like a mother hen?"

Although he regretted his words as soon as they were out of his mouth, he felt no small satisfaction at seeing the pained expression on Legolas's face.

"Then do you not trust me anymore?" he quietly asked, "Does our friendship count for nothing, then, mellonamin?"

Aragorn felt his anger and frustration slowly ebb away.

"Sorry," he said with a guilty tone in his voice, "it's just that..."

He paused.

Legolas watched him intently, giving the ranger all of his attention.

"I've met Arwen Undomiel." he finally admitted, "Ada was not...happy."

Not happy was an understatement. Legolas could guess how 'unhappy' Lord Elrond really was.

"All that have met her have changed," Legolas said, "Your situation is like Beren and Luthien, bittersweet in a sense."

Aragorn looked up, surprise flittering across his face.

"I, for one, would not want to fall in love with a mortal if I could help it," Legolas commented dryly, "However, I am glad for you to have found such joy in your life. You have my congratulations."

Silver eyes met blue eyes, as if asking whether or not this statement was true. When they found that this was true, Estel relaxed.

"I am glad that you think so. Even Elladan and Elrohir have doubts about me placed in their hearts," the ranger said painfully, drifting off to distant thoughts.

Legolas nodded. The twins were so protective that they sometimes hurt the people who they cared for unintentionally.

"Nothing ever pokes through that stone-hard skull of yours," Legolas said, continuing in the same tone of voice.

"Yes, nothing ever does," Aragorn agreed absentmindedly.

It took five minutes before he finally realized what he had said.

"Hey!" Aragorn sputtered, "You sneaky little elf!"

"Nothing really does filter through your non-existent mind," Legolas grinned, starting to sprint back toward the palace.

"Come back here, you back-stabbing traitor!" Aragorn yelled at the retreating form of the elf, knowing that Legolas could hear him.

"But the dúnadan said so himself!" Legolas smirked back at the approaching form of the man.

One day, Aragorn decided, he would wring that prissy elf's neck. All the same, a smile started to form on his face as he quickly gave chase to the rapidly vanishing figure of the wood-elf.

* * *

The sky darkened, causing several thin beams of moonlight to shine into the shadowy depths of an old dusty underground dungeon. As if a silent signal flashed throughout the room, a thin white hand slowly raised itself and uncovered the lid of the shabby wooden coffin it was in, revealing a dead, yet not dead body of a man.

"They will pay," its voice hissed into the silent emptiness, "They will pay."

**TBC...**

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**Elvish translations:**

_mellonamin_ - (Sindarin) my friend

_ada_ - (Sindarin) daddy

_dúnadan_ - (Sindarin) man of the west, Númenórean


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews!_

_Please R&R!_

* * *

-**A Single Light**-

**By:** terrymcgrion

_For full rating, summary, and disclaimer information, see the first chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 2**

"WHAT?!"

The whole of Mirkwood winced at the sound of that particular voice, which was sounding pretty annoyed right now.

"You want me to allow you two to 'take a simple stroll' around this forest when I know that it will be a lot more than 'simple'!?"

Servants scurried around, attempting to avoid the elf's irritation.

Lindur groaned softly, hoping that Thranduil wouldn't notice him. It wasn't even his idea. Those two 'friends' of his had insisted on dragging him in with them to ask the Elvenking a so called 'trouble-less' question.

Like it had been painless.

Lindur would just love to do lot of things to them. Mainly very painful things.

Lindur was jerked back from these thoughts of revenge by the mention of the two people who he was currently musing about and smirked. It suited them right for putting him in this situation.

"Whenever you and Estel get together to go on one of your infamous outings, it can be referred to as a catastrophe."

Aragorn winced almost perceptibly at Thranduil's words. Maybe it had been a bad idea.

"But adar, it will only be for a couple of hours!" Legolas protested. "I can promise that we won't go looking for any trouble."

"We don't need to go looking for trouble because it always finds us first," muttered Aragorn.

Thranduil glared at him, opening his mouth to argue with that statement. He was met by two, no, three sets of shining, puppy dog eyes that made the three people in his study look much younger. Knowing that he couldn't refuse the three combined angelic looks, he relented.

"Okay," the Elvenking sighed, looking as though defeated, "you may go IF you promise to be back by sunset."

"Yes, Ada!"

"Yes, your Majesty!"

"Yes, my lord!" Legolas, Lindur, and Aragorn all yelled simultaneously.

As Lindur exited the room, he thought he saw a plotting look on Thranduil's face. When he tried to get a closer look, it had disappeared.

Lindur shrugged. It was probably nothing.

"They won't get away so easily," Thranduil thought darkly, calling one of the still hesitant servants to deliver a message for him.

Those three still had a lot to learn.

* * *

Shafts of sunlight shone into the room, landing on the folds of a white blanket that covered a dark-haired elf.

It was a beautiful day, Kánodil thought as he gazed up at the larks singing just outside of his window. Shifting around in his bed, Kánodil tried to recall why he had fallen asleep beside his weapons, which were within close reach.

Then he remembered who had just arrived the day before. With that sudden thought, the elf sat up quickly.

The day was almost too perfect with Legolas and Strider around, Kánodil realized. Those two would probably already be up thinking of a prank to play on some poor unsuspecting elf.

Then again, Kánodil thought, no sane person would ever be unwary with those two around.

It would be even worse if the victim was him. Kánodil had no intention of spending the next few weeks trying to wash blueberry juice out of his hair. Not to mention trying to get over his indignity of being bested by three younger pranksters. His fellow warriors had sniggered behind their hands whenever Kánodil walked in with his blue-tinted black hair.

Kánodil suspected that Lindur had aided Legolas and Strider in wounding his pride. It didn't matter who had done it though. The fact remained that he, Kánodil, one of Mirkwood's best warriors, had been caught off guard by three (to the elves) teenagers.

That incident had been the palace gossip for months.

The wood-elf was shaken out off these gloomy thoughts by someone pounding loudly on the door. Quickly dressing himself, Kánodil headed toward the door, mentally cursing himself for his carelessness of not hearing the coming footsteps of the servant.

He yanked the door open, surprising the attendant. Taking a step back, the servant quickly relayed the king's message and left as rapidly as he could without going into a full-fledged sprint.

Sighing as the warrior began walking down the hallway, Kánodil wondered, "Why in all of Arda did the Elvenking send for me?"

* * *

The sound of laughter filled the forest as a brown-haired elf stuck his foot out, successfully tripping a human. Falling down on his face for what felt like the tenth time, Aragorn cursed.

At least, he would have cursed if his mouth wasn't full of leaves.

"Mmph allu uhmm!" was all that was needed to send Legolas laughing.

Lindur grinned, dark brown eyes twinkling with laughter as he watched the ranger struggle to his feet.

"Hey, that wasn't fair!" Aragorn shouted, attempting to smack the elf on the head.

Losing his balance as Lindur leaped out of the way, all he got was another mouthful of dirt.

Losing what was left of his dignity, Legolas collapsed on the forest floor, sides shaking with laughter. Lindur joined him on the ground a few seconds later.

The elves were too busy snickering at the unfortunate ranger to notice their silent follower as he stalked ever nearer towards them.

**TBC...**

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**Elvish Translations:**

_Ada_ - (Sindarin) dad, daddy

_Adar_ - (Sindarin) father


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

-**A Single Light**-

**By:** terrymcgrion

_For full rating, summary, and disclaimer information, see the first chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Kánodil groaned with frustration.

Why had he agreed to become the crown prince of Mirkwood's personal bodyguard? Something had to have been wrong with his head when he had accepted the recommendation to be a Royal guard.

Maybe that something had to do with getting a taste of the King's Dorwinion wine. He really should have been able to ignore the goading coming from his fellow elves.

Then again, Kánodil reflected, no one really had suspected that Prince Legolas could turn out to be one of Arda's worst pranksters.

By the elven age of eleven Legolas had mastered the art of sneaking away from his guards, who were severely reprimanded for their apparent lack of attention. No one had dared to say that they had been paying attention, but the elfing was just too clever.

King Thranduil was a formidable foe when he was calm. To cross the Elvenking when he was angry was suicide.

Besides, the prince had contrived to gain an irresistible charm that even the crankiest elves had trouble opposing.

The elf deemed to be the 'crankiest' happened to be Kánodil.

Turning his attention away from these thoughts, the elf took in the scene that was folding out before him.

Kánodil frowned.

Legolas, Strider, and Lindur should be paying more attention to their surroundings. A hoard of goblins could have stormed into the clearing without the three youngsters even noticing.

Shifting his weight around to a more comfortable position, Kánodil settled down, letting a soft sigh escape past his lips.

What else was there to do but wait for something to go wrong, as it always had?

* * *

Elf humor, Aragorn decided, was unbelievably insane. His brothers would never let him forget this particular dirt-in-the-face incident.

Aragorn felt a jolt of anguish.

_His brothers. Ada's look of revulsion._

If he still considers me his son, the ranger thought dejectedly.

Before meeting Arwen, Strider would have readily told you that Lord Elrond was his father without hesitating.

Now he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Is something the matter?" A voice broke through Aragorn's thoughts.

Looking upwards, the ranger saw Lindur standing by him with a concerned expression on his face. Legolas, upon sensing the atmosphere of the clearing darken, was hurrying over towards the man.

Aragorn shook himself. Now was not the time to be moping about.

"Just fine," the ranger heard himself saying.

Legolas eyed the human with a suspicious look but didn't comment out loud, reasoning that Strider would crack and confess what had disturbed him after the tension mounted to an unbearable point, like most of the human population did.

In theory.

Suddenly deciding that he couldn't stand the uncomfortable silence anymore, Aragorn abruptly stood, and before the elf could react, kicked Legolas's legs from out beneath him.

The prince landed with a grunt.

"You must always be aware of your surroundings," Strider said in the best mock-tutor voice that he could summon up.

Lindur laughed, "He got you there, Legolas!"

The said elf struggled to his feet, his face etched with disbelief. "Why you little..."

Legolas suddenly stopped, much to Aragorn's confusion.

The bewildered look was soon replaced by a horrified one as a mass of long, spindly legs and glowing eyes materialized in front of them.

**TBC...**

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**Elvish Translations:**

_Ada_ - (Sindarin) dad, daddy


End file.
